INSIDE THIS ISSUE SJ POWER POLL .................2 PLAYER OF THE WEEK .....6
South Jersey’s No-hit queen PAGE 3
www.southjerseysportsweekly.com
Over the next two weeks, South Jersey Sports Weekly will be honoring the best athletes from each of the 10 spring sports as well as the best boys and girls teams of the season. The selections were made from a collection of high school athletes from the 20 towns and approximately two dozen schools within SJSW’s coverage area. Each of the Player of the Year and Team of the Year stories will appear in either the June 19 or June 26 issue of South Jersey Sports Weekly. All of the stories can also be read at www. southjerseysports weekly.com.
JuNE 19-25, 2019
FREE
Meeting great expectations
Photo submitted by DOUGLAS FRANK Moorestown High School’s girls lacrosse team has a standard of excellence few programs in the state, in any sport, can match. The Quakers gathered around the program’s 24th state championship (and 17th in the last 20 seasons) earlier this month.
Moorestown’s girls lacrosse team has been one of South Jersey’s unstoppable forces since 2000, and the Class of ’19 didn’t disappoint By RYAN LAWRENCE Sports Editor
There must have been something in the drinking water fountains at Moorestown High School in the last 10 months. During the 2018-19 school year, the Quakers celebrated state championships in boys basketball, girls swimming, field hockey, boys golf, and both boys and girls lacrosse. And that run doesn’t include the programs that won sectional championships, like both tennis teams and girls soccer. “Growing up in the youth programs, it was super competitive,” said senior Del-
aney Lawler, one of a handful of athletes in the school to be a part of two state championship teams this year. “We’ve always been a very driven class, super competitive, it’s even evident in gym class and things like that. Coming into leadership positions this year, we not only were trying to get the best results on the field but also wanted to build a locker room and leave our impacts on the programs, on and off the field – that was important to our senior class.” “I think it’s a lot of natural talent,” fellow senior Kayla Frank added. “We’re a big athletic group.” Whatever it was, it was a historic school
year. And no athletic run at Moorestown would be complete without the contributions of the program that’s won state titles regularly since the turn of the century, the girls lacrosse team, South Jersey Sports Weekly’s pick for girls’ spring Team of the Year. Despite a new coaching staff for the first time in 28 years, and despite injuries that kept two All-American players out of action for a month, Moorestown’s most dominant program lived up to the lofty expectations placed upon the team year in and year out. Moorestown senior Logan Lillie made a pair of saves in the game’s final minutes while Frank, Rylee Brown and Ashley Nutt combined for eight goals as the Quakers held on for a heart-pounding 9-8 victory over Mendham in the Group 3 state championship game on June 1. It was the 24th state title in program history and the team’s 17th since 2000. please see LACROSSE, page 7
SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY
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SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY — JUNE 19-25, 2019
BOYS TENNIS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
POWER
Mannan making history at Cherokee POLL!
1. Moorestown Girls Lacrosse
A loss in the Tournament of Champions final to Oak Knoll doesn’t take away from a season that ended with the program’s 24th state title. (Previous: 1)
2. Winslow Girls Track
Tionna Tobias won two medals at the Meet of Champions for the Eagles, finishing third in the 100-meter hurdles and eighth in the long jump. (2)
3. Deptford Boys Track
The Spartans’ 4x100-meter relay team finished off an outstanding season with a fourth place finish at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions. (3)
4. Williamstown Boys Golf
Liam Caspar shot 69 in an 18-hole tournament twice in 2019, once at the South Jersey Group 4 sectional and again at the Gloucester County Tournament. (5)
5. Moorestown Boys Golf
The Quakers were the only SJSWcoverage area team in any spring sport to finish the 2019 season undefeated. (8)
6. Haddonfield Girls Lacrosse
Prior to 2017, Haddonfield had never even won a sectional title. Since then, the program has won three straight sectional trophies and two state championships. (6)
7. Cherry Hill East Boys Tennis
The South Jersey Tennis Coaches Association voted Cougars head coach Greg deWolf as the 2019 Coach of the Year. (7)
8. Moorestown Boys Lacrosse
Leading scorer Ben Cantwell and standout goalie Gene Martin are just two of the Quakers’ top players who will graduate this week. (9)
9. Eastern Girls Lacrosse
Kara Heck finished second on the team with 88 points despite missing nearly a month at the end of the season due to injury. (NR)
10. Eastern Baseball
Loss to Ridgewood in the Group 4 state championship game was the Vikings’ first appearance in the state finals since 2013. (4)
The standout sophomore was nearly perfect against South Jersey opponents in 2019, winning the county, conference and South Jersey singles titles and making it to the Round of 16 in the NJSIAA state singles tournament By MIKE MONOSTRA Sports Editor
He may only be a sophomore, but Cherokee’s Arjun Mannan is already cementing his spot as arguably the best male tennis player in the history of his school. Mannan was undisputedly South Jersey Sports Weekly’s Boys Tennis Player of the Year after he put together a dominant season in 2019. His resume speaks for itself: Mannan is the 2019 Burlington County and Olympic Conference singles champion. On May 25, Mannan won the South Jersey Tennis Coaches Association singles tournament, becoming the first champion, male or female, from Cherokee. He was the only South Jersey player to make it past the third round in this year’s NJSIAA state singles tournament. His final record for the season was 32-2. His first loss came on April 3 in a match against Cherry Hill East’s Adam Yu. Mannan wouldn’t lose again until nearly two months later, a June 2 loss in the state tournament’s Round of 16 against the No. 2 seed, Michael Zheng of Delbarton. “He’s the real deal,” Cherokee head coach Dave Haney said. “He’s funny. He’s quiet. He doesn’t talk much during the turnovers. But he’s coachable. I give him advice and he takes it.” Mannan isn’t a player who searches for the spotlight. When asked whether he ever thought about being the top player in South Jersey, Mannan insists it never crossed his mind. He also didn’t think much about being a 9-16 seed in the state tournament this year. “I didn’t pay attention,” he said. “There were a lot of good kids that weren’t seeded.” Mannan may not have been paying at-
MIKE MONOSTRA/South Jersey Sports Weekly Cherokee’s Arjun Mannan leaps into the air as he smashes a forehand in the finals of the Olympic Conference singles tournament in May. Mannan won the Burlington County, Olympic Conference and South Jersey singles titles in 2019. tention, but many in the South Jersey ten- teammates were in attendance, cheering nis community were. Mannan came home the standout sophomore on. from the South Jersey Tennis Coaches “They all came and watched,” Mannan Association banquet last said. “Even if they already Sunday with a ton of hardlost, they would come and ware, including the 2019 watch my matches.” Mannan has made Player of the Year award. great strides in the past “Kids, players are hangyear. He said his forehand ing over the fence in awe of has gotten a lot better and how hard he hits the ball,” he now lands his serves Haney said of Mannan, with more consistency. who stands about five and For Haney, he believes a half feet tall. “I think it’s Mannan was able to go on in part due to his stature. a nearly two-month unHe just pounds the ball. It’s defeated run because he inspiring. It’s one of those believes in himself and is things that shows it doesn’t committed to getting betmatter who you are, if you ter after losses. understand what you’re “He’s the type of kid doing, you can make it that looks at his losses work.” as an experience, not as Mannan’s play also a failure,” Haney said. had a positive impact on Sophomore Arjun Mannan “That’s one of the things I his teammates. Mannan helped boost Cherokee to a 12-6 record in a think every coach, no matter what level, is strong Olympic Conference American Divi- trying to instill in their kids.” Mannan regularly plays United States sion and Haney believes Mannan’s ability to gel with his older teammates was a big Tennis Association tournaments and plans to participate in five to six tournaments reason for that. “They have helped him get to open up this summer. As for competing at the high and he’s helped them become better tennis school level, there’s no telling what Mannan’s ceiling is with two seasons left. When players,” Haney said. Mannan’s achievements at times seemed asked if Mannan was capable of one day like a team victory. At many of Mannan’s contending for the state singles title, Haney South Jersey tournaments, his Cherokee simply said, “absolutely.” ■
JUNE 19-25, 2019 – SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY
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SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
No-hit Queen
RYAN LAWRENCE/South Jersey Sports Weekly Opponents hit just .153 against Burlington Township junior Bailey Enoch in 2019. Enoch, the South Jersey Sports Weekly Softball Player of the Year, went 11-3 with a microscopic 0.62 ERA, 159 strikeouts and just 29 walks in 15 appearances. She also threw two no-hitters in the season’s first three weeks.
Burlington Township’s Bailey Enoch pitched a no-hitter on Opening Day and kept on dealing to Softball Player of the Year honors By RYAN LAWRENCE Sports Editor
The game may have been more than two weeks old, but the result still stung. Burlington Township High
School junior Bailey Enoch looked like she had just bitten into a lemon as she briefly revisited the game played two Fridays earlier at the field just across the parking lot from the Falcons' gym. Burlington Town-
ship hung right with Steinert, the defending Group 3 state champ (and defending Tournament of Champions champ, too). The Falcons out-hit the central Jersey power. But the game’s only run came on a sixth-inning home run, a home run Enoch watched from her spot in the middle of the circle. It was just the second home run she allowed all season. “It’s unfortunate,” Enoch said. “We were on (the opposing pitcher). We were scouting her a little and saw she
had 17 strikeouts in a game and double-digit strikeouts often, so I was really proud of us. We didn’t strike out as much as I thought we would and I thought we were making really good adjustments throughout the game.” The sour taste of losing in the Central Jersey Group 3 semifinals to Steinert for the second straight season will subside eventually or, perhaps, turn into the fuel that gets Enoch and the Falcons over the top during her senior season in 2020. What the one game on a Friday afternoon in May will not do is take away from the brilliant season Enoch put together in her third year as a varsity starting pitcher. Enoch struck out 16 in a no-hitter in the first game of the season against New Egypt. She threw another no-no against Bordentown, a Group 1 state finalist, two weeks later. Enoch finished her junior season 11-3 with a microscopic 0.62 ERA, 159 strikeouts and just 29 walks in 15 appearances. Opponents hit .153 with a .227 on-base percentage against the Falcons ace. For her efforts, Enoch is the South Jersey Sports Weekly 2019 Softball Player of the Year. “I think it’s a lot of hard work paying off,” said Enoch, who verbally committed to Fordham University in December. “The awards are not a necessity but always nice to have. It’s an honor.” The six-foot-tall Enoch has her parents, Donald and Kristie, to thank for her athletic genes. Her mom was a star field hockey player at Camden Catholic and played collegiately at Shippensburg University while her dad pitched at Delran High School and Mercer County Community College. Don Enoch was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays out of high school but opted to go to college. Her father might not know how to throw a rise ball or
generate power underhanded, but he surely knows how to attack hitters, game plan, and master the mental side of the game as a pitcher, all skills he’s passed along to his only daughter. “He’d teach me how to get out of tough situations,” Enoch said. “Whenever he would see me having a rough time and he was my coach, he’d come out and ask stupid questions to get my mind off my pitching.” Along with her sheer talent as a pitcher, Enoch’s mental maturity and feel for the game are among her strong suits as a team leader at Burlington Township. “She’s quick to see something,” Burlington Township coach Nicolette Cannizzaro said of Enoch’s softball acumen. “If we’re running a drill and someone forgot to cover or didn’t tag up correctly, she’s definitely watching. She holds a lot of the underclassmen accountable when it comes to that stuff, she wants to raise the bar of her teammates.” Before she completes her high school athletic career, one that’s also seen her contributing to the soccer and basketball programs at Burlington Township, Enoch is ready for the entire softball program to raise the bar next spring. After coming a win away from playing for a sectional championship in each of the last two seasons, Enoch has a singular goal. “(Fellow junior) Anaya Hunte and I were just talking about it: we’re winning our section, no matter what,” said Enoch, who also hit .327 with a .514 OBP and 21 runs in 20 games. “We’re so ready to do it. It’s been building up and we’re so ready. … We’ve been waiting so long and getting let down so much, as seniors next year we’re going to really take over and push the program toward winning from the start. We’re going to do everything we can to accomplish this goal.” ■
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SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY — JUNE 19-25, 2019
BOYS GOLFER OF THE YEAR
Consistent Excellence Williamstown’s Liam Caspar wanted to “go out with a bang” with his fellow seniors. He rose to the occasion in tournament play to lead the Braves to a historic season. By RYAN LAWRENCE
tory. The competitive atmosphere and ticking clock of senior year also brought out the very best in Liam Caspar in the From neighborhood street hockey to final two months of his high school cayouth soccer, and, eventually, golf, Liam reer. Caspar has known his best friends for Caspar was a Group 4 sectional chamover a decade. They grew up with sports pion, shooting a 69 (three under par) at and the competition among each other Charleston Springs in Millstone; he was has been a conthe runner-up both stant, even in video at the Tri-County games or backyard Conference tourpick-up basketball. nament and in the “We might be Carl Arena/Al the most competiRifkin Memorial tive people you Tournament, South ever meet,” said Jersey’s premier Caspar, who is midseason event; graduating from and at the TournaWilliamstown ment of ChampiHigh School this ons, Caspar’s 78 month. “Even in was the second-best playing (golf) pracscore among South tice rounds, we Jersey golfers, and don’t like losing. Williamstown colThat just makes lectively finished you get better. with the best score After playing with of any public school these guys for the in the state. last six years or It was a remarkso, we just learned ably consistent from each other. season of excelWe all have differlence for Caspar, RYAN LAWRENCE/SJ Sports Weekly ent strengths and culminating with Williamstown’s Liam Caspar shot a 69 weaknesses and another honor: He twice in tournament play in 2019. He was we all help each has been named a Group 4 sectional champion and the other in getting the South Jersey runner-up both at the Tri-County Conferbetter at our weakSports Weekly ence tournament and in the Carl Arena/ nesses. I think that Boys Golfer of the Al Rifkin Memorial Tournament, South all makes us better Year. Jersey’s premiere midseason event. as one.” “I was injured He also led the Braves to the first state The special at the beginning of championship in program history and the bond between the the year, so to come best finish among any public school in the Braves golfers – back and help my Tournament of Champions. Liam Caspar, his team accomplish twin brother, Sean, all of this, it means junior Tyler Geatens, and fellow seniors the world to me to get this award,” said Stephen Burek and Eric McCoy – helped Caspar, who played through back pain Williamstown’s team make history, col- related to a basketball injury when the lecting the first state title in program his- golf season got underway. “Going into
Sports Editor
MIKE MONOSTRA/South Jersey Sports Weekly Williamstown coach Tim Rue on Caspar’s ability to raise his game in big moments: “I think Liam has a unique ability in clutch situations to turn that nervousness that most people feel into adrenaline to focus more. It’s an amazing quality, but I think it’s why he performs so well in tournaments.” the season, I didn’t think I’d have this great of a season. It’s insane to shoot two 69s in tournaments and to stay consistent in the low 70s, with one round over 75. It definitely means a lot to me and my family.” Caspar is in a family full of golfers: his older brother, Aidan, also golfed and his father Fred, a self-taught golfer, taught his sons the game. And he will continue his athletic career at Cabrini University along with his brother, Sean, next year. Sean Caspar actually had a better ninehole average than his twin brother this spring but it was Liam who took his game to a different level in tournament play. Before shooting a 69 at Running Deer in Pittsgrove Township to place second behind Clearview’s Gage Wolfle in the conference tourney, Caspar shot a previous round of 69 when his team needed him the most. In the Group 4 sectional championship tournament, Geatens had to withdraw because of an illness and the Braves had to compete shorthanded. Liam Caspar rose to the challenge and Williamstown won by one stroke. “Knowing that I’m a leader and one of the better players on the team, I know I have to step up in those types of situations,” he said. “I don’t let the pressure get to me as it does to some people. So it’s
up to me to go out there, play my best and go as low as possible.” “I think Liam has a unique ability in clutch situations to turn that nervousness that most people feel into adrenaline to focus more,” said Williamstown coach Tim Rue. “It’s an amazing quality, but I think it’s why he performs so well in tournaments. I think it’s also the confidence, or for lack of a better word, the swag he naturally has.” The confidence grew with each passing tournament, and Caspar and his friends rode it all the way to the program’s first state championship and a memorable showing at the Tournament of Champions. “We were the best public school, which was by far, way higher than we had set our eyes on,” Caspar said of the team’s T of C score. “Going into this season we were slept on by most people, we weren’t even top 10 in the state out of all schools. So to be the best public school, it’s insane I think.” Insanity, in this case, is reality. And it’s an experience Caspar and his lifelong friends won’t soon forget. “We knew this was the last year for four of the five of us,” he said. “We’re the key to our team, so we wanted to go out with a bang.” ■
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JUNE 19-25, 2019 – SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY
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GIRLS GOLFER OF THE YEAR
Gutierrez puts Seneca girls golf on the map Gutierrez had consistently high finishes in nearly every tournament she played in during 2019 and led the Golden Eagles to a 9-1 record in the team’s first full season in the Olympic Conference By MIKE MONOSTRA Sports Editor
Seneca junior Kayla Gutierrez’s impact on the golf course in 2019 went well beyond long drives, clutch putting and birdies. Gutierrez had plenty of individual success, from placing in the top-10 in many of the high school tournaments she played in to qualifying for the Tournament of Champions for a third consecutive year. However, Gutierrez was named South Jersey Sports Weekly’s Girls Golfer of the Year not just for what she did as an individual, but also for how she had a positive impact on a Seneca girls golf program playing its first full season in 2019. “(Gutierrez) helped kickstart the program,” head coach Matthew Abate said. “Now, since we’ve had a lot of success, more girls are finding out about it and it’s going to help us in the future.” Just as girls golf was new at Seneca this year, Gutierrez was new to Seneca. After her family moved in the offseason, Gutierrez transferred from her previous school, Pinelands Regional, to Seneca. At Pinelands, Gutierrez competed on a co-ed team with the boys and thought she would be doing the same at Seneca. When she connected with Abate and found out Seneca had a separate girls team, Gutierrez realized she was in for a new experience. “I didn’t know about any of the teams we were playing against,” Gutierrez said. “I knew nothing. I must have talked Abate’s ear off in the beginning of the season asking him which teams we were playing and how we’d qualify and what I’d have to shoot.” Gutierrez was the perfect fit on a team with a number of girls who were just get-
ting their feet wet in golf. Gutierrez remembers what it’s like to first start out, having just picked up the sport prior to her freshman year of high school. Abate thought Gutierrez showed great leadership abilities as she helped many of her teammates improve their games. “I just remember this one day we were on the chipping green,” Gutierrez said. “Everyone was around the green, chipping and I was in the sand practicing my sand shots. Everyone instantly came over and said, ‘I want to practice my sand shot.’” “I was the only one getting the ball out of the sand trap,” Gutierrez continued, “We stayed there for 15, 20 minutes and I was trying to help them get the ball out of the sand trap.” While Seneca had a number of players who were new to the sport, they did return one of South Jersey’s best golfers in sophomore Maddie Lawlor. Lawlor, who was coming off a breakout 2018 season as a freshman, hadn’t met Gutierrez prior to this year, but the two became close and together, were arguably the best one-two punch in South Jersey. The two were a huge part of lifting Seneca to a 9-1 season. “As soon as we got paired together and played our match, we instantly clicked,” Gutierrez said. “She won the conference tournament, which I was thrilled for her to win that. She got her scores down so much.” Gutierrez wasn’t too shabby in the Olympic Conference Tournament either, finishing in third place behind only Lawlor and Cherry Hill West’s Katie Chase. At the LPGA Girls Golf Classic at Old York Country Club in late April, Gutierrez took fifth place and was the second highest finisher from South Jersey in a field featuring some of the top golfers from Central Jersey. On April 10, Gutierrez had another top-five finish in the Lady Bombers Invitational at Middlesex Golf Course. She shot a 77 that day, besting most of the players from the eventual Tournament of Champions winner, Montgomery High School. “There’s a term in golf, range rat,” Abate said. “She’s a range rat. She’s practicing all the time. She’s never satisfied. She’ll hit a 250-yard drive and she’s just never satisfied. Always wanting to be better is what sets her apart.” After being the top finisher at Tournament of Champions from the South Jersey Sports Weekly coverage area, Gutierrez is now preparing for a busy summer. She plans to play in junior tournaments throughout the area with an eye toward playing in college and having more success in her final high school season next year. ■
SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY
PLAYER OF THE WEEK!
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SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY — JUNE 19-25, 2019
BOYS VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Guetens’ volleyball journey ends on a high at Washington Township
Tierra Hooker
Timber Creek High School Junior Track and Field
The Chargers standout finished her penultimate high school season in style. After collecting Group 3 state titles in the high jump and long jump a week earlier, Hooker matched her PR with a high jump of 5-10 to collect the Meet of Champions title in the event on June 8. It was the second straight season Hooker was the best in the state at the event – she also won the long jump at the Meet of Champions in the winter track and field season. Hooker is warming up to be one of the best all-around athletes in the state as a senior. Quotable: “Tierra gets herself ready for competition like no other athlete I’ve ever seen,” said Timber Creek coach Erik Geisinger. “She is able to concentrate on the event and block out distractions. Most of the girls I coach hate warming up properly, but Tierra leads by example and shows our younger girls what you need to be ready for competition. … This season she has been the most consistent with both her high jump and long jump. Most years she would hang around 17 in LJ and 5-6 in HJ and then peak perfectly at the end of the year. This season she started out third at Penn Relays and jumped 5-8 or better five or six times throughout the season. Her performance at the Meet of Champions especially impressed me because she didn’t do well in the long jump and she was able to overcome her emotions to have a great performance in high jump. … Her number one goal right now is to jump 6-0 in HJ and over 20 in LJ. Seeing her in practice everyday, I know she will hit these marks in her last season. I also expect her to be sub 14 in 100 hurdles next season.” ■
Mike Monostra/South Jersey Sports Weekly Senior Brett Guetens holds the Gloucester County boys volleyball championship trophy he helped the Minutemen win for the first time ever back in May. Guetens is South Jersey Sports Weekly’s Boys Volleyball Player of the Year after he led Washington Township to a program-best 24 wins in 2019.
Guetens went from a novice player as a sophomore to one of South Jersey’s best as a senior, setting a new program record for kills in a season and helping the Minutemen to their best season ever By MIKE MONOSTRA Sports Editor Three years ago, Washington Township senior Brett Guetens had never
seen an organized volleyball match, let alone played in one. “One of my friends, Mike Mulvihill played (volleyball),” Guetens said. “He told me to come out and watch a game. I came and watched JV and varsity play.” “It was something completely different than I was used to seeing,” Guetens continued. “I never watched a real volleyball game. I always played it in gym and stuff. But it was a different atmosphere. After that, I decided to start coming to every single one of their home games freshman year.” After enjoying the game from the stands as a freshman, Guetens decided to try out for the team as a sophomore. Two years later, Guetens became one of South Jersey’s top players, breaking Washington Township’s single-season kills record with an Olympic Conference-best 238 and becoming a first team all-star in both the Olympic Conference and Gloucester County. These accomplishments and more are why
Guetens is South Jersey Sports Weekly’s Boys Volleyball Player of the Year. Guetens’ accomplishments are remarkable considering volleyball isn’t his main sport. Guetens will play soccer at Division II West Chester University in the fall and he was a key player on Washington Township’s 2018 Group 4 state championship team. Head coach Barbara McBrearty believes Guetens’ athletic ability allowed him to develop into a standout volleyball player. “He stood out even for someone that’s never played,” McBrearty said of first seeing Guetens at tryouts in 2017. “He’s very athletic, he was quick, a very quick learner. And he ran with it. He wanted to always do his best whenever he was on the court.” While Guetens always had plenty of raw athletic ability, he pointed to 2019 as the year he developed the intelligence and court vision to take his game to another level. Guetens credited experience and guidance from his teammates and coaches for developing outstanding volleyball sense. “Coming into a new sport, you’re just trying to do your best,” Guetens said. “But this year, I realized I’m a volleyball player, not just a soccer player trying to play volleyball.” Guetens’ kills total came from his ability to put the ball where he needed to in the right spots. McBrearty noted how Guetens was able to hit both the hard spike as well as the soft tip. She felt the key was his ability to know which move to make at the right time. Guetens won’t take all of the credit, though. He feels his success can be attributed to the success of his teammates, from Justin Bautista and his team-leading 266 digs to sophomore setter Tyler Jones, who became a huge part of the Minutemen’s offense in 2019, tallying 677 assists. “I don’t think fans realize how important (chemistry) is, from the serve to the pass, to the set, to the swing, to the coverage,” Guetens said. “You need a full six of good players that care about each other, that want the player please see GUETENS, page 8
JUNE 19-25, 2019 – SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY
LACROSSE continued from page 1
Moorestown followed that win by avenging one of its five defeats (one of only three to instate opponents) by knocking off Group 4 state champ and No. 1 ranked Ridgewood in the Tournament of Champions semifinals before falling to Oak Knoll in the T of C final. After taking the T of C as juniors, and knowing the program has taken home that title in 14 of the last 20 seasons, too, the departing Quakers weren’t completely satisfied with their season. Still, coming off a state championship for the second straight year and a T of C title in 2018 wasn’t the worst way to finish their high school careers. “You do have to remind them,” said Colleen Hancox, a 2002 Moorestown graduate who took over the coaching reins from Deanna Knobloch this winter. “It’s a group of such competitive, hard-working
kids here that the ultimate goal is always the Tournament of Champions. But you have to remind them of how proud they should be of the sectional win, the state win, winning the T of C semifinals and being a T of C finalist. And once the sting of the final loss subsides, you can really feel how proud of being one of only two teams left in the state.” Moorestown’s record of excellence extends across more than one generation. With the mounting state title trophies comes the pressure to add your own during your time within the program. The Quakers seniors who graduated this month saw the team in a rare drought at the conclusion of their freshman year: for the first time since 1999, Moorestown had gone consecutive seasons without winning a state title. The streak extended to three years after their sophomore seasons. “When we grow up, it’s all we know, winning state championships and winning T of
off a stunning, walk-off upset. While Lillie made the gamesaving stop, sending the game into overtime, Frank caught the backswing of the potential game-ending shot on her right index finger. It was her last game for the next month, as she underwent surgery before playing in the playoffs with two screws in her finger. About a week after Frank’s injury, Lillie suffered a concussion and would be sidelined for 3 ½ weeks. Frank and Lillie were two of three Quakers, along with Lawler, named to the Under Armour All-American Game rosters this spring. Without two of their top players, the Quakers persevered. They also had two new quasi-coaches. “Having them on the sidelines as an extra set of eyes was amazing,” Lawler said. “It was awesome for them to build relationships with people I don’t think they would have if they didn’t get injured, getting extremely close with the coaches
Cs,” said Frank, who scored 22 goals in this year’s postseason run. “So to come out of high school, if we didn’t win anything like that it would have honestly been heartbreaking.” “We definitely came in and we were fired up,” said senior defender Julia Dalmass. “My sister graduated in 2015 when they lost to Oak Knoll in the T of C semifinals. I knew I personally wanted to come back and win it. I think our grade in general is very competitive, we wanted to win, we wanted to go out winning.” But having the conviction to win doesn’t guarantee it. The Quakers, who play an extremely competitive schedule with the best in-state and out-of-state foes alike, won each of their first 10 games, but the victories didn’t come without a price. In one of those wins, on April 13 at Haddonfield, Frank tried to force her way between the goal and a Bulldawgs attacker in the closing seconds, when host Haddonfield appeared to be in position to pull
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and being a liaison between what’s going on on the field and how we’re feeling and what the coaches are seeing. I think the injuries were a blessing in disguise because they came back hungrier as well.” When Moorestown was back to full strength, it was bad news for anyone in its path. The Quakers’ seniors entered school eager to keep the program’s esteemed record going and left with back-to-back state championships and consecutive T of C appearances, too. “It’s amazing and something you’ll never forget,” said Nutt, who had a team-leading 79 points in 2019. “I’ll go to college and wish I had this. It’s not only the winning, but the team and all your friends, it’s a family at the end of the day. Everyone is just so close, there’s all of the traditions. It’s just something you’ll never forget. You start young in this town and you’re playing with the same people through the years, since third grade. So to finish it out with these girls, it’s amazing.” ■
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SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS WEEKLY — JUNE 19-25, 2019
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MIKE MONOSTRA/South Jersey Sports Weekly Brett Guetens made his mark on Washington Township boys volleyball in 2019. Guetens finished the year with 238 kills, the most by any player in a single season in program history.
GuETENS
continued from page 6 next to them to be as good as them.” “These guys wanted it and their work ethic was outstanding to achieve it,” McBrearty added. “They worked as a unit to achieve it.” Washington Township’s talent and tight chemistry paid off in a big way. The program’s 24 wins were the most ever in a single season. The program won a share of the Olympic Conference American Division title for the first time in more than a decade and advanced all the way to the South Jersey semifinals in the postseason. Perhaps the biggest achievement for Guetens and his teammates, however, was the program winning the Gloucester
County Tournament title for the first time ever. The Minutemen defeated GCIT, Williamstown and Kingsway on May 17 to win the title. “The county win was definitely something special,” Guetens noted. “There’s no better feeling than lifting a trophy in a championship.” Four years ago, Guetens thought volleyball was just a sport played in gym class. Now, Guetens considers it to be a major part of his life. Even though soccer will take up his focus athletically in college, Guetens plans to keep playing volleyball in his spare time. “Offseason for soccer, I’ll probably stick with it playing club (volleyball) in the gym,” Guetens said. “Because honestly, who doesn’t like to play volleyball?” ■
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